Summer Reading Series: An Arkansas Folklore Sourcebook
This begins Part One is a new series for the Seed and the Story column, which runs here on the Boiled Down Juice and in two Arkansas newspapers. This season-long series will highlight books that help us gain a deeper understanding of the central Arkansas region and related topics. We’d love for this series to
Category: Arkansas
From Here to California: What’s Your Family’s Arkansas Labor Migration Story?
One of the core goals of this column is to continually explore the wide variety of stories and voices that articulate what it means to call this place home. For years now I’ve had the opportunity to do a great deal of oral history research, learning more about life in central and northwest Arkansas anywhere
Category: Arkansas
Mother’s Day Corsages, Peace Movements and Work Days: What Does Mother’s Day Mean to You?
In old photo albums and shoe boxes there are several photos of my mother and her mother wearing corsages on Mother’s Day. Usually they’re standing in front of the lilac bush or the deep purple irises, my mother wearing a red corsage and her mother a white one. I distinctly remember my mother explaining the
Category: Arkansas
Seeking Meaning in Decoration Days, Past and Future
Throughout the month of May people will take part in the tradition of Decoration Days, a time to come together to decorate the graves of loved ones. According to many historians, the holiday began in connection with Memorial Day as a way to honor the huge numbers of Civil War dead, many of who were
Category: African American History
Friday Video: Pray the Devil Back to Hell
This past Wednesday 2011 Nobel Peace Prize winner Leymah Gobowee spoke at Philander Smith college in Little Rock. Powerful, humbling, energizing, Gobowee’s stories of peaceful protest in Liberia reminded those in attendance the importance of waging peace and the power of women coming together. This week’s Friday Video features a clip from the film Pray the
Category: Friday Videos
Living Out the Land Ethic: The Campbells in Pope County
This week’s Seed and the Story column is part of the McElroy House: Organization for Folklife, Oral History, and Community Action’s ongoing series featuring the stories of local growers in the Yell and Pope County regions of central Arkansas. To learn more about the Garden Book project, go here. Interested in supporting this work? Click
Category: a. Slider
Voices of Intergenerational Gardening: Grandfather and Grandson Talk Seeds and Harvest on Ozarks at Large
You may recall a recent Seed and the Story column about grandfather and grandson Whitney Wills and Bryan Mader who’ve been gardening together on a small backyard plot in Dardanelle, Arkansas. The column was written in partnership with our sister organization, the McElroy House: Organization for Folklife, Oral History, and Community Action as part of the ongoing
Category: Arkansas
Community News Columns and Resource Sharing: Harmony Gardens and Manna House
Update: Harmony Gardens will be hosting a community-wide work day and learning event Saturday June 8th, 2013! Come to the event and Get your hand in the dirt and plant some seeds, flowers, etc… 2. Learn how to have your own garden 3) Mulch, so easy to do 4) Weed and learn grass control tips
Category: Arkansas
Monday Music: Cedric Burnside (and the Roots Music Festival at “Cultivating the Delta”).
Arkansas State University’s annual Delta Symposium will begin this Wednesday in Jonesboro. This year’s theme is “Cultivating the Delta,” and will bring together a variety of scholars, community workers, and students to explore concepts of place, sustainability, history, community, artistic expression, and community action. For the next few days we’ll be highlighting some of the
Category: Arkansas
Mayflower Oil Spill, Social Media Resources, and Ways to Get Involved.
This column typically focuses on local history and living community traditions, paying particular attention to the ways in which people relate, directly or indirectly, to the physical landscape of the region. As cleanup continues, people in central Arkansas are trying to make sense of the Mayflower oil spill (which wasn’t actually oil but rather highly
Category: Arkansas